Throwing Geithner Under the Bus re China

On the heels of Treasury Secretary Geithner’s apparent designation of China as a currency manipulator at his confirmation hearing last week, President Obama called President Hu over the weekend to try and calm the waters.

We at this time have no more information beyond confirmation of the call, but our sources tell us that President Obama did make the call in an effort to let President Hu know that the United States very much hopes to maintain strong positive relations with China and to cooperating with China on the many crises now confronting the world.

Incredible as it may seem we have confirmed that Geithner’s language was taken from the Obama Campaign website without anyone, including Geithner himself, having asked the White or State Department whether the electioneering slogans were now governmental policy.

It’s really hard to read a lot into this. But calling the world’s largest country a currency manipulator right out of the chute is typical Boomer smashmouth rhetoric, which is one reason why there isn’t a Boomer in the White House. Obama was wise to try to smooth some feathers with the Chinese.